How To Recover From A High Heel Snafu, Courtesy Of Christie Brinkley & Rose McGowan

It's a basic law of physics: If you totter around on four-inch mini-stilts for a long enough period of time, eventually you're going to stumble. It happened to Christie BrinkleyandRose McGowan last night on the runway at the Heart Truth Red Dress fashion show, but both ladies recovered with such spectacular composure that I had to share their secret...

The show is always one of the highlights of my fashion week--and last night was particularly special because our own Editor-in-Chief, Cindi Leive, was walking (in a fabulous Jason Wu dress) to help raise awareness about women's heart disease. She strutted alongside Patti Stanger (yes, the Millionaire Matchmaker, who looked like approximately a million bucks!), Chaka Khan, and...

...Christie Brinkley, who looked drop-dead gorgeous in a dress by Pamella Roland. Her shoes were also killer, in more ways then one. She was barely halfway down the runway when she lost her footing and took a little stumble. She didn't go over, but it was noticeable enough to elicit a gasp from the audience. What she did next made me believe in the power of the supermodel and totally inspired my reaction to my next (inevitable) high heel snafu. She stopped in her tracks, looked up to acknowledge what had happened, gave a little giggle and a shrug as if to say, "Really?! Why me!" then collected herself and powered forward with the most self-assured walk I've ever seen! It was a simple gesture that said, "I'm only human, and I'm ridiculously awesome." I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream "You go girl!"

Some suspect the trip may have been intentional (she told MSN in a pre-show interview, "You're there supporting this worthwhile, meaningful cause. And if you slip and fall, you'll make the news and spread the word even more."), but regardless, we took it as a lesson in grace from the original Uptown Girl.

Just a few minutes later, Rose McGowan--wearing a one-shoulder dress by Roberto Cavalli--suffered a similar incident. She, too, handled it like a total pro, taking a minute to laugh at herselfa and recognize that yeah, it was embarrassing, but then powering forward with a serious burst of look-at-me swagger (seriously, just check out that pose above).

So take note, fellow stiletto wearers: You're probably going to stumble at some point. And the best course of action is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, find the humor in the situation, and use it to empower you to be even more fabulous. Because letting a little thing like a fall get the better of you and make you lose your confidence is just not cool!